VPS is short for “virtual private server”. When you’re choosing a web hosting service for your website, there are various types to choose from.

With a dedicated server, you rent an entire server from your web hosting company, meaning you have complete control over the server setup, maximum bandwidth, and the highest level of security.

Shared hosting allocates space on a server for your data, which is also used by several other individuals or businesses. This type of hosting is more limited than dedicated hosting, as you won’t have full control over your settings, but it’s a lot cheaper.

VPS hosting is a compromise between shared hosting and dedicated hosting. With VPS hosting, you share a physical server with other customers, but the hosting environment is set up to work as if it was a dedicated server. This gives you many of the advantages of dedicated hosting at a lower cost.

Although a Virtual Private Server Hosting provides a much more affordable alternative than its physical equivalent a “Dedicated Server” a VPS plan is more expensive than a standard shared hosting plan. So who should use a Cloud-based Virtual Private Servers?

Growing businesses that are expanding beyond the capabilities that shared hosting can offer.

Businesses that have expected or planned future growth. When entering a new market or presenting a new opportunity where rapid growth is a possibility, ensuring your website has the dedicated resources it requires to maintain performance under heavy site traffic.

Websites that require a better level of privacy and performance compared to what shared hosting plans offer.

A business that requires full control over their server. Ability to custom configure, allow root access and installations that are unavailable with standard shared hosting.

Company’s that house multiple brands and websites. Keeping all your branded websites under one roof, or one VPS, rather than multiple shared hosting will ensure consistent performance and provide a better way to maintain various website hosting.

VPS hosting uses virtualisation technology to divide the resources of one single physical server into several virtual servers. Each of these virtual servers operates as if it is an independent dedicated server, but is contained within one physical machine.

If you’ve ever installed a virtual machine on your computer to run an instance of Windows on your Mac or run Linux on your Windows machine without having to restart your computer, you’ll already have experience with the type of technology that makes VPS hosting possible.

Or, to give a non-technical analogy, you can think of VPS hosting as renting an apartment in a larger building. While you may share the physical building with other occupants, you’re responsible for paying your own utility bills and choosing how fast your internet connection is. Nobody else has keys to your apartment, as it’s a completely private space.